Sunday, July 30, 2006

Why not take a minute to send a FREE postcard to one of our U.S. soldiers today? This is an offer by Xerox and it will last as long as there is a need for it. Pretty sweet, Xerox! Thank YOU for the program.

Research by Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick has found that sleep deprivation is associated with an almost a two-fold increased risk of being obese for both children and adults.

Early results of a study by Professor Francesco Cappuccio of the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School were presented to the International AC21 Research Festival hosted this month by the University of Warwick.

The research reviewed current evidence in over 28,000 children and 15,000 adults. For both groups Professor Cappuccio found that shorter sleep duration is associated with almost a two-fold increased risk of being obese.

The research also suggests that those who sleep less have a greater increase in body mass index and waist circumference over time and a greater chance of becoming obese over time.

"The 'epidemic' of obesity is paralleled by a 'silent epidemic' of reduced sleep duration with short sleep duration linked to increased risk of obesity both in adults and in children.These trends are detectable in adults as well as in children as young as 5 years."

Professor Cappuccio points out that short sleep duration may lead to obesity through an increase of appetite via hormonal changes caused by the sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep produces Ghrelin which, among other effects, stimulates appetite and creates less leptin which, among other effects, suppresses appetite. However he says more research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which short sleep is linked to chronic conditions of affluent societies, such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

TamponCrafts has published a HOWTO for building a paintball-style gun for firing tampons:

Inspired by marshmallow shooters, this air-powered tampon gun turns your feminine hygiene products into high-flying projectiles. Have a shootout between rival tampon brands, or use it as a fun alternative to paintball. The tampon shooter has a range of 10 to 20 feet depending on your ammo and lung capacity. The matching bandolier lets you carry a full “clip” (i.e., box) of 20 tampons, so you’ll never be caught short in the heat of battle.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. -- A severed hand was found at the home of an exotic dancer who decorated her home with skulls, and she was charged with improper disposition of human remains, authorities said.

Friends said the hand had been given to the woman by a medical student.

Police responding to a report of a suicidal person at the home of 31-year-old Linda Kay discovered the large, roughly severed hand in a jar of formaldehyde on a bedroom dresser, according to the police report. The subject of the suicidal person report was not located, authorities said.

Six skulls were found in another room and the Middlesex County medical examiner determined that all are human.

I certainly hope she wasn't using the hand for do-it-yourself sex! Naturally she'll say the skulls were candleholders.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Space date set for Scotty's ashes

Doohan played engineer Scotty in Star TrekStar Trek actor James Doohan, who played the engineer Scotty in the original TV series, will now have his remains blasted into space in October.

The actor's ashes were supposed to be sent into orbit last year, but the flight was delayed as tests were carried out on the rocket.

Doohan died of Alzheimer's disease and pneumonia in July 2005, aged 85.

"Beam YOU up, Scotty"!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hoosegow Honey of the Year

Every week, David Burge of Iowahawk dutifully pores over the mugshots of female arrestees from Des Moines' Polk County Jail, selecting photos of the women he feels are suitable for candidacy in his Hoosegow Honey contest. He asked his readers to vote for Miss Hoosegow 2006. The winner is Jesika, with 20.9% of the vote.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Crack cookies hidden in potato chip can

David Pescovitz: This Pringles can packed with "Crack Cookies" was apparently confiscated during a recent drug bust in Austin Texas. From a news release issued by the Austin Police Department and published in The Statesman's police blotter blog: Kevin Ray Landry, 35, was taken into custody for providing an alias when officers requested that he identify himself. Landry was found to be in possession of approximately 10 grams of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest. South Central patrol officers contacted the APD Narcotic Conspiracy Unit who responded to the scene. Narcotic Conspiracy personnel subsequently executed a search warrant on Landry’s vehicle resulting in the additional seizure of 17 cookies of crack cocaine.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And finally.....

Dear Yahoo!:Do most people talk to themselves when they're alone?Carl Grafton, WisconsinDear Carl:We asked ourselves this question and our inner voice answered, "Sure they do." We're normal (almost) and if we do, everyone else must too. Do we need more proof? A voice tells us "Yes."

Movies and TV shows have led us to believe only "nut cases" talk to themselves. However, according to the Self-Therapy site, everyone talks to themselves, and positive self-talk is good. Negative self-talk is not. This site states that most critical self-talk originates from other people, and you should think of the person by name (maybe with a strong adjective) as the source of the negative self-talk.

In an article titled "Watch Your Mouth," Maggie Guseman states that your inner voice may be saying you're dumb, ugly, or worthless when, in fact, it isn't true. This is the voice of a society that wants everyone to be smart, beautiful, and rich, and it's keeping you from being you. The site offers a quiz so you can examine how your inner voice talks to you.

Like almost everything else, not everyone agrees that talking to yourself is good. There's even a course called "Stop Talking to Yourself" on four CDs or cassettes.

So what's the conclusion? Apparently some experts believe self-talk can be good, and others think we should all shut up. And yes, most of us do talk to ourselves.

I not only talk to myself, I answer me too! The thing I hate about it is when I interrupt myself before I can finish a sentence and then I can't remember what I was going to say!

Having followed this matter closely for some time, I can safely say that while the Chief may not be the anti-Christ some make him out to be, his management style is more of the same autocratic, big brother, he knows what's best that Houston Police have suffered through for decades. The union has made it clear that their biggest problem with him is that he refuses to listen, and compromise, on issues that really amount to minor glitches on the roadmap.

The Mayor addressed the pension crisis in such a manner that scores of highly trained officers simply retired rather than worry about losing benefits. Now the Chief talks about thwarting the will of the people in terms of being able to afford to hire replacements, using the tax referendum as his scapegoat.

Where has the Chronicle been when they should have been taking up their role as the fourth estate? We hear about officers working hundreds of hours of overtime as being a problem then the city initiates another overtime program to solve the problems of the day.

The infrastructure of the city is falling apart, from police radios, to patrol cars that wouldn't be fit for meter maid duty, to stations falling down around the officers yet the pressing issues for the Chief are tattoos, facial hair, and trying to find all new ways to use fear as the primary motivator. The officers are spread so thin that the citizenry better make preparations to take care of their own problems unless they want to wait for that lone police car that pulled up hours after the crime occured.

I learned long ago in the private sector that a teamwork approach works best in tough times. If the worst the officers did was give the Chief a slap on the nose using their survey, we can all count our blessings because the officers I've seen in the last year or two looked shell shocked and fatigued. There may be some of them that expect too much from an outsider and there will always be the sycophants who think the world is rosey no matter what happens but I think the Chronicle has dropped the ball yet again in this matter.

If anyone out there thinks this type of "leadership" is going to get their pleas for help answered faster than providing a decent workplace environment that will encourage people to join the ranks of HPD, by all means continue to live in that fantasy world until you're the one in need of help.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said he wasn't against the idea of asking police officers for their opinion of his tenure at HPD but doubts a scathing survey released earlier this month by their union.

On Tuesday, Hurtt called for a third party — not connected to either side of the dispute — to conduct a fresh review.

'I think that would give us a more accurate, independent set of responses,' Hurtt said.

About 2,300 members of the Houston Police Officers' Union responded to the three-page questionnaire, with 75 percent expressing little confidence in the chief's leadership.

HPOU officials said the percentages were similar from the first-level supervisors — sergeants, lieutenants and captains — who were polled.

Hurtt said questions still remain, however, about the manner in which the survey was conducted.

'I think there were some biases as far as the presentation,' Hurtt said.

HPOU President Hans Marticiuc said he welcomed another poll of his members, provided their confidentiality could be assured.

"Do it," Marticiuc said. "If the survey reflects what we've shown, then get rid of him."

The shortage of officers on the street, Hurtt said, is a major morale issue for the department.

"We realize that we need to hire new people. We started that process, and we're very aggressive," he said.

As the city continues to grow, however, Hurtt said HPD will be hard-pressed to continue adding officers under a 2004 cap that limits the overall increase in city revenue.

"You can't do that," Hurtt said. "I think we have legislated ourselves into a position that's impossible for us."

HPOU leaders said there have been some positive changes within the department since Hurtt assumed the top position in 2004, including equipping officers with Tasers.

"The officers themselves were very supportive when he got here," Marticiuc said.

Marticiuc presented the findings to the City Council on Tuesday, spending about 40 minutes answering questions from members. In the end, they asked Mayor Bill White to call a meeting between both sides to iron out their differences.

"This doesn't make us comfortable to have a public fight like this," Clark said.

Friction between labor and management is common in any large organization, Hurtt said.

"Sometimes you may have questions about the people you deal with — and you have to do everything in writing — but the job still has to get done," Hurtt said.

I'm in a sticky situation concerning my feelings and remarks about both HPD and the Harris County Sheriff's Department because I'm a card carrying, proud alumni from both organizations Citizen Police Academy classes. As such one is asked to go forth and sing the praises of the departments and not slam their leadership. I'm all for singing, but my main concern has always been for the rank and file, the guys and gals in the trenches, if you will, the ones doing the day to day drudgery. I feel their pain with the current administration.

When the results of the survey were made public, the first words quoted out of Chief Hurtt's mouth were: Houston police Chief Harold Hurtt says much of the criticism leveled against him is unfounded. Wow! That'll show 'em! He also explained his position on beards: He says they interfere with gas masks which officers may someday be required to wear. So what's the deal with the tattoos then? What do they interfere with? Why order them to wear bulletproof vests in Houston's heat? Why not trust the individual officers to make their own decisions about wearing vests based on their particular working conditions? Why not treat them as adults capable of making intelligent decisions? When does a leader become a dictator?

In the meantime, he also says the limits in city revenues will hamper HPD's efforts to hire new officers to help relieve the burdens on the current crop of street working cops. Hmmm ... now I'm certainly no rocket scientist when it comes to the city coffers, but what's this talk about red light cameras, wi-fi for the masses, fancy parking meters for the homeless to piss upon and all the other hi-tech stupid ideas like the Danger Train? Is the rise in crime just a whim? Are the officers of HPD supposed to be cheered up with free wi-fi in their patrol cars? I'd like to see a survey on the citizens and HPD's confidence in Mayor White while they're at it. Clearly something has to give.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Beyond science, Einstein's letters reveal a life of turbulence - The Boston Globe: "Einstein achieved world fame in 1905 after publishing his special theory of relativity while he was living in Bern, Switzerland. He settled in Berlin in 1914 but traveled extensively, lecturing and working in many places including three stints as a scholar in residence at Oxford University. Threatened by the Nazis, who put a bounty on his head, he left Berlin for good in 1933 and settled in Princeton, N.J., from where he continued to correspond with his sons and former wife in Switzerland.

He became involved with Elsa, a cousin, in 1912 when he was still married to his first wife Mileva, a fellow scientist with whom he had two boys, Hans Albert and Eduard. Before he and Mileva married, they had a daughter, Lieserl, who was given up for adoption. (That's charming!)In 1919, Einstein divorced Mileva and married Elsa, but within four years he was in love with Bette Neumann, his secretary who was also the young niece of one of his friends. Many more liaisons followed.

The letters reveal that a beautiful Berlin socialite named Ethel Michanowski followed him to Oxford, only to discover that he was involved with a third woman.

According to excerpts of letters made available to reporters, Einstein discussed his extra-marital affairs openly with his family."

I'm just stunned at this revelation. Never in my wildest imaginations would I picture Al as a stud! He's certainly no Brad Pitt! Maybe he had...ahem....some hidden attributes? Maybe that's the deal behind the whole tongue thing! I can tell you one thing...I'll never be able to look at him the same way ever again!

I used to think of him as the 'father' of his special theory of relativity and that his observations laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. NOW I'll remember him as the 'father' of promiscuity who laid the foundations for the theory of sexual addiction. Woof, woof.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

That phrase keeps running through my just-getting-over-a-cold, hope-I'm-not-getting-bronchitis head since my return from Sin City. The cigarette smoke in that city nearly kills me. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against anyone that is so addicted to the drags that they can't help themselves from huffing and puffing like old train engines as I myself used to smoke to excess, but can't they have just one area of every casino for those of us that HAVE to stay away from the devil weed due to health concerns? Must the never-ending glitz come packaged inside an ashtray? Can't I just lose my funds without losing my breath as well? Oh well, that's not the intended topic of this post so I'll move on...

I did indeed end up helping the Vegas economy and they seemed grateful for my contribution. I like staying on/near Freemont Street. I did not like staying at the Plaza! It was hot outside and it was hot inside too. One of my "group" finally said why didn't I call down to the desk and tell them it was HOT in my room and darn if I didn't do that very thing and wa! la! they at least came up and cleaned the filter and it did get more bearable. A budD also "fixed" the drapes with a heavy magazine to keep the air flowing better. The A/C unit was under the heavy drapes and when the air blew it just made for billowing curtains with chilly linings and didn't do much for the rest of the room. The maids were quick and invisible, but the carpet looks as if it's never been truly cleaned. The whole place can be summed up in one word - DRAB.

The best part about the Plaza was that it was quiet in the room....partly because we were there before the thundering herds of weekend revelers arrived. The food there sucked, except for McDonald's for breakfast....you pretty much can't screw up pancakes and sausage no matter how hard you try. We ate mostly at buffets and the best one on Freemont Street is at the Golden Nugget. We also dined at the Rio's World Something-Or-Other and it was pricey as hell, but everyone seemed to enjoy their selections. I pigged out on mac and cheese, it was yummy! The BIG shrimp cocktails at the San Francisco Shrimp Bar & Deli in the Golden Gate are wonderful! Only $3.99 and they throw in butter and crackers on the side if you ask nicely! They have a smaller, cheaper version too, but I went for the gusto grande!

The worst part about the Plaza was there were no blow dryers in the rooms! I've never stayed anyway "nice" that didn't have blow dryers and maybe even coffee makers in the rooms. Another gripe of mine (and God knows my group will tell you "gripe" and "whine" are what I do for fun!) was that the joint comes with no instructions. There were no handy books in the desk that told what was offered and where it was located. We could see the pool from the window, but never did find the exercise equipment/gym. The 2nd floor is supposed to house "shops" and there's one Jerky place....honest, they sell every kind of Jerky you can imagine! The Bingo is located on that floor too and I'd hoped to play a round or two, but that never happened. I figured if my budD couldn't go see Circus Circus like he wanted to that I'd forego my need for a Bingo fix. Hey, that's just the kind of pal I am!

My daughter wrote of her experiences on her brand, spanky new blog and I have to disagree with her statement that the flight over was uneventful. It was an AstroWorld ride from hell near the end when we went through a storm and then did the whole bucking bronco decent into the valley of the shadow of the Luxor! Kids were crying, old ladies (like me!) were making deals with the deities, and men were trying to look cool while wondering if the last blow job they got was going to be THE LAST B.J. they EVER got. I've never been on a plane that shook like that one did, but evidently our pilot was just sober enough to pull it off because we finally touched down and the plane erupted into spontaneous cheers and applause! Life was good. Bring on the slots, or sluts, depending on your POV. A good time was had by one and all, but boy howdy was I glad to get back home to my old dog and my even older bed and bath!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

I won't be blogging during the coming week. Instead I'll be baking my buns off in the Nevada heat and helping the Vegas economy!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank ALL 82 folks who visited here during the week of July 8 to July 14! I'm amazed that you were kind enough to view 184 pages during that time too! It's as if you all came in my room while I was gone and dug my diary out from under the bed and read all the emotional junk I wrote when I was 13! Hey! My brother used to try and do that too!! He didn't rate any 'thanks' though.

I'll see you when I return! Rich or poor, there'll be a lot more, God willin'!

Friday, July 14, 2006

I've got a big TV and it takes two grown men to lift it. How can someone NOT know that something that heavy could kill a little kid? Hell, even a smaller TV could kill a little kid if it fell on their HEAD just right! There's probably cases of kids getting killed with transistor radios for Christsake!

Look at some of the quotes from the article:

In the past year, at Memorial Hermann Hospital alone, there have been 11 injuries from falling televisions. In the past four months, five of those have resulted in death.

There are no national numbers for fatalities, but in 2005, U.S. emergency-room doctors treated 2,600 children younger than 5 injured by falling televisions, according to the U.S. Consumer Product SafetyCommission.

Experts said the most important thing is to keep TVs out of reach of small children or at least anchor them against a wall, and don't put things on them. (Well DUH!)

I dunno. Are some people just dumb as dirt OR are they trying to kill their kids to gain some sympathy? Case in point, the asshole that shot his pistol into the air one July 4th or New Year's Eve or whenever it was, because of course that's what normal people do to celebrate an event, and then POP it comes down and kill's his kid and now he's on the TV being interviewed on the anniversary of the death for YEARS AND YEARS. I don't get it. Is he supposed to warn others or is he giving a how-to on getting rid of the kid?

But then, on the other side of the coin, is the Gov. If 10 kids got killed in one year because of falling TVs, they'll whip out a feel-good-justify-why-we-get-the-big-bucks-in-Washington law and to try and make people accountable for not having common sense. Maybe it's just me.

I like looking at the ones other people send too. There's tons of cute ones with little kids and pets dressed up in Astros uniforms and regalia. My favorite are of some little dogs dressed up like bees!

Xavier Thoughts: Now THAT'S A Snake!: "9 feet, 1 inch.97 lbsThis rattler was killed at the old Turkey Creek gas plant located just South of the Alibates Turnoff on Highway 136, South of Fritch Texas."

Xavier gives an interesting RECIPE for cooking a snake such as the one pictured. I've heard rattlesnake tastes a lot like .......any other kind of snake!! I think I'll pass on the taste test however. Just my luck I'd get scales caught in my teeth or something.

I pretty much like my chicken to taste like chicken too. Show me a hen that rattles and I'll show you my backside extra fast.

Chertoff made the announcement as part of a six-point agenda July 13, 2005, which identified elevating the position to an assistant Cabinet-level post as part of an overall strategy to “ensure that the department’s policies, operations, and structures are aligned in the best way to address the potential threats — both present and future.”

That position remains unfilled."

See post below for a possible reason why this position remains unfilled.Hint: a) they aren't paying enough $d$o$u$g$h or b) the title of the project is lame

front have been consistent through the generations. While standing in the In its Friday editions, the Daily News Plot a 'real threat'carried by horseback to the nearest trading post in Under an agreement with prosecutors, she faces at least seven years "'Don't tell mom' is one of the common phrases dramatically. In short, care was being given more parents agreed with the plea deal.the southernmost link between New Jersey and Manhattan -- London bombings. Four suicide bombers killed 52 people he was pummeled with rocket fire and weapons, transportation system or anywhere else in the U.S.," That way, as soon as someone is wounded, he or "A significant development in this investigation parents agreed with the plea deal.his morale was low, and he wrote his dad a long letter.reported that the FBI had revealed a plot to bomb New York's The ways that wars are fought and even how troops"

Cleverly designed to twart any intelligent keyword blocking and yet irritating enough to extract the living piss outta me because I'm getting dozens everyday.

Ihatethemhatethemhatethem. So there. I'm exercising my formidable powers and cursing them and something horrible will happen to them all soon. I'm not kidding, I can do it. I don't know how or why, but I've put the juju on others and they've all come to a bad end. Don't Mess With A Texas Ms.

UPDATE - If the quoted text above is too small to read, as it was for me, try using the wheel on your mouse plus the CTRL key to make it larger! Or you can go to VIEW/text size on your browser or plain vanilla CTRL++ and do the same thing, but it's not nearly as kewl!

Dr. Robert Kurtzman, the coroner in Grand Junction, Colo., who performed the autopsy, said his preliminary report indicates Lay suffered from clogged arteries and died of natural causes."

A swirl of rumors emerged online and on talk radio in the hours after Lay's death. Joe DiSalvo, director of investigations for Pitkin County, said the facts are simple: ``I am comfortable as the deputy in charge of this that Kenneth Lay was the person who died in that house.''

Well, you know what they say...."Man proposes, God disposes".... may God have mercy on his old crooked soul.

One of the passing motorists that stopped to help was 82 years of age! Wow! Is that cool, or what?

I'm always so proud of regular people when they do stuff like that. Especially like this case when it was an automatic response to a potentially life threatening situation. That first gut reaction, that we were all brought up to expect, that now seems to be sadly dying out among the me-first generations.

However no one asked those that are deaf, blind or have lost a limb what they thought about the MO. No word from those that are morbidly obese, deaf, blind, and have lost a limb. All the dead people interviewed that have died as a result of the complications of diabetes say do whatever it takes to take control of your life before they are throwing dirt in your face too.

I'm doing research on the various forms of bariatric surgery preferably laparoscopic!

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Those easiest to disarm are the responsible and law abiding citizens whose guns represent no meaningful social problem. Irresponsible and criminal owners, whose gun possession creates or exacerbates so many social ills, are the ones most difficult to disarm.
- Don Kates